ORLANDO, FL – June 14, 2018 – Greenberg Traurig, P.A. Orlando office Co-Managing Shareholder Jéan E. Wilson has been named a 2018 Trailblazer by the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter of the National Bar Association (VHFCNBA). Wilson will be recognized along with this year’s other honorees during the Trailblazers Legacy Gala on June 16 at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek.
The award recognizes African-American lawyers, comprising a small fraction of total Bar membership, who have created new paths that impact where and how African Americans have influenced the practice of law in Florida.
Trailblazer honorees include the first African-American president of The Florida Bar, more than 30 current and retired state and federal judges, two college presidents, legislators, county and city attorneys, general counsels, solo practitioners, professors, and numerous business and civic leaders.
“I am very honored to be among the distinguished recipients receiving this distinction from an organization that has given rise to so many pioneers and has been on the front lines of so many critical issues in our community,” Wilson said. “It is only through law firms and other institutions having a true commitment to diversity that our society will reap the benefits of a fair, just, and rewarding legal system that is representative of all of the people it serves.”
The highlight of the awards event, which will honor nearly 400 attorneys, will be the release of the organization’s second volume of “Florida’s First Black Lawyers, (1980-1989),” which features biographies and photos of those admitted to The Florida Bar during that time period. The late Henry Latimer, an attorney and shareholder of Greenberg Traurig, was included in Volume 1. Volume 1 was the work of volunteers commissioned in 2008 by then Florida Supreme Chief Court Justice Peggy Quince to research and record the history of black Florida lawyers who began their practice between 1869-1979. As a follow up to the first, Volume 2 continues the tradition of providing information about each Trailblazer and adds more extensive biographical sketches for them.
In addition to serving as Co-Managing Shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Orlando office, Wilson also chairs the firm’s Orlando and Atlanta Public Finance Practices. He has broad experience as bond counsel, disclosure counsel, underwriters' counsel, bank counsel, trustee's counsel, borrower's counsel and purchasers' counsel in various types of tax-exempt and taxable financings, including housing, transportation, public utilities, general obligation, sales tax, revenue and tourist development tax issues, as well as tax increment, industrial development and downtown redevelopment financings.
Wilson has received many esteemed designations throughout the course of his career, including being listed among The Best Lawyers in America, Public Finance Law (2007-2018); being listed in the Chambers USA Guide (2007-2018); being listed among Florida Super Lawyers in Super Lawyers magazine (2006-2017); being listed as a key member of "Metro Orlando Leadership" in Florida Trend magazine (2016); being listed in Orlando Magazine's "Best Lawyers in Orlando" (2010); and many other accolades.
He received his juris doctorate, with honors, from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He is a graduate of DePaul University, with a bachelor's degree in Finance, where he also graduated with honors.
About Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and is among the Top 20 on the 2017 Am Law Global 100. Web: www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.